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<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td><span class=default> <!-- startprint --> <span class=default><p><strong>ROBERT H. BROWN, M.D., D.PHIL.</strong></p> <p>Dr. Robert H. Brown is head of neurology at University of Massachusetts Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center. Previously, Dr. Brown served as Director of the Day Neuromuscular Research Laboratory and Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Clinic at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Brown graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed his doctoral training in neurophysiology at Oxford University. Dr. Brown trained in Neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Brown, both a research scientists and a neurologist who sees patients, began studying ALS in 1979. He works on basic discoveries in RNA interference technology. In 1984, The Day Neuromuscular Research Laboratory was founded by Dr. Brown to investigate neuromuscular diseases, including Miyoshi myopathy and ALS. </p> <p><strong>LUCIE BRUIJN, Ph.D.</strong></p> <p>Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D. joined The ALS Association (ALSA) in January 2001 as Science Director and Vice President. Prior to that Dr. Bruijn led a small team at Bristol Myers Squibb developing in vitro and in vivo model systems for neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Bruijn received her Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy at Rhodes University, South Africa. She received a Master's degree in Neuroscience and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, specializing in disease mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease, at the University of London, United Kingdom. She joined Dr. Don Cleveland's laboratory in 1994 where she developed and characterized a mouse model of ALS (mice expressing the familial-linked SOD1 mutation). Using this model her studies focused on disease mechanisms. In addition, in collaboration with Dr. Robert Brown she looked for neurofilament mutations in familial and sporadic ALS patients. At The ALS Association, Dr. Bruijn leads an international ALS research program. She has expanded on the existing grant programs, launching a groundbreaking new research initiative Translational Research to Advance Therapies for ALS (TREAT ALS) with the goal to move treatment options from "bench to beside." She has made it a priority to collaborate with other funding agencies, in particular The National Institute of Health and many other not-for-profit ALS organizations, as well as other foundations focusing on neurodegenerative research. These collaborations ensure that increased dollars are spent on ALS research. She is involved in project development, encouraging partnerships with academia and biotech, and has played a key role in forging collaborations amongst investigators. It is her strong belief that only through collaboration among a wide range of disciplines will we be successful in changing the course of ALS and finding a cure.</p> <p><strong>VALERIE ESTESS</strong></p> <p>Ms. Valerie Estess, along with her sisters Jenifer and Meredith, founded Project A.L.S., which has revolutionized the way that science and medicine approach disease research. As Director of Research, she motivates world leading scientists and clinicians---many of whom are competitors---to work aggressively, openly, and together toward a deeper understanding of ALS, and the closely related Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and spinal cord injury. In six years, Project A.L.S. has raised over $23 million for research. With Jenifer, Estess is author of the national bestseller Tales from the Bed. This inspiring memoir urges readers to dream bigger, work harder, and go deeper, regardless of obstacles. Ms. Estess has appeared on Today, Charlie Rose, Larry King Live, NBC Nightly News, Entertainment Tonight, and MSNBC, while the ongoing story of Project A.L.S. has been closely followed by The New York Times, People, Good Housekeeping, Forbes, and Fortune magazine. The story of Project A.L.S. was told in the critically acclaimed HBO original documentary Three Sisters: Searching for a Cure, produced by Academy Award winner Sheila Nevins.</p> <p><strong>ADRIAN IVINSON, Ph.D.</strong></p> <p>Dr. Adrian Ivinson is the founding Director of the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center (originally the Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair), an integrated and tightly managed research center engaged in groundbreaking and collaborative neuroscience research at Harvard Medical School, its affiliated research hospitals, and other leading research groups around the world. By combining programs in imaging, drug discovery, bioinformatics, clinical trials and genetics, the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center aims to advance our understanding and treatment of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to joining the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center, Dr. Ivinson was a Special Advisor to the Provost at Harvard University. In 1993, Dr. Ivinson began his eight year tenure with the Nature Publishing Group where he served as Senior Editor, Editor in Chief, and Publisher of the monthly journals including: Nature Genetics, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Neuroscience and Nature Medicine. After completing undergraduate studies at the University of Aberdeen, and a Masters in Medical Genetics at Glasgow University in 1986, Dr. Ivinson joined the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of Manchester, England and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1991.</p> <p><strong>EDWARD M. KAYE, M.D.</strong></p> <p>Dr. Edward M. Kaye is Group V.P. and Therapeutic Area Head in Clinical Research at Genzyme Corporation, where he supervises the clinical research in the lysosomal storage disease programs and in the genetic neurological disorders. He studied medicine at the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and University Hospital, received his Child Neurology training at the Boston City Hospital, Boston University, and completed training as a Neurochemical Research Fellow (Geriatric Fellow) at the Bedford VA Hospital, Boston University in 1983. He was head of the section of Neurometabolism, Pediatric Neurology at The Floating Hospital for Children (Tufts University) and research fellow in gene therapy at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He has served as Chief of Pediatric Neurology and Director of the Barnett Mitochondrial Laboratory at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, Chief of Biochemical Genetics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics. He is a member of the Neurology Department at the Children's Hospital of Boston and has been on the editorial boards of a number of journals, including Annals of Neurology, Journal of Child Neurology, and Pediatric Neurology. He currently serves on the Scientific and Medical Advisory Boards of the United Leukodystrophy Foundation, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation, and Prize4Life.</p> <p><strong>TOM MANIATIS, Ph.D.</strong></p> <p>Dr. Tom Maniatis is currently the Thomas H. Lee Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received his B.A. and M.S. degrees in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Colorado, and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Vanderbilt University. After postdoctoral studies in Cambridge, England and Harvard University, Dr. Maniatis held faculty positions at Harvard University, The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology. He is known for his pioneering work on the development of recombinant DNA methods and their application to the study of gene regulation. His academic research has been recognized by numerous awards, including the 1981 Eli Lilly Research Award in Microbiology and Immunology from the American Society of Microbiology, the 1985 Richard Lounsbery Award for Biology, the 1998 Novartis Drew Award in Biomedical Research, the 2000 Scientific Achievement Award from the American Medical Association, and the 2001 Pasarow Award in Cancer Research from the Pasarow Foundation. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1985, and received honorary PhD's from the University of Athens in 2000 and the Watson School of Biological Sciences in 2006. </p> <p>Dr. Maniatis is also a pioneer in biotechnology, founding Genetics Institute in 1980, ProScript in 1994, and Acceleron in 2004. He chaired the scientific boards of these companies and served as a director. A number of FDA approved drugs were developed for the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases, hemophilia, anemia and multiple myeloma. These achievements were recognized by the 1999 Gabbay Award in Biotechnology and Medicine given by Brandeis University. More recently Dr Maniatis chaired research and drug development committees for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALSA), and has moved into the area of neuroscience where he hopes to investigate the causes of ALS. In 2008, Dr. Maniatis received the NIH Director's Pioneer Award in support of this research.</p> <p><strong>MICHAL PREMINGER, Ph.D., MBA</strong></p> <p>Dr. Michal Preminger is Executive Director of the Harvard Medical School Office at Harvard University's Office of Technology Development. Dr. Preminger joined OTD in 2005. Prior to joining Harvard, she held a number of business development and technology development positions at Compugen, most recently as Vice President of Protein Therapeutics, responsible for the business management of the company's emerging drug discovery pipeline. Previously, Michal held several marketing and business development in the hi-tech industry, among others for Lucent Technologies. Michal also co-founded Anima Cell Metrology, a biotechnology startup focused on the real-time identification of proteins as they are synthesized in living cells. Michal holds an undergraduate degree in Medicine from the Hebrew University School of Medicine, a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science, and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.</p> <p><strong>AL SANDROCK, M.D., Ph.D.</strong></p> <p>Dr. Al Sandrock received a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and a Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Harvard University. In 1998, Dr. Sandrock joined Biogen Inc., where he served as Director of Medical Research, Director of Clinical Development-Neurology, Vice President of Clinical Development-Neurology, and since 2006 as Sr. Vice President of Neurology Research and Development. Dr. Sandrock is also a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the Society for Neuroscience, the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, and the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine. Since 1998, Dr. Sandrock serves as an assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School.<br></span> <!-- stopprint --> </span></td> </tr> </table>
